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Each Friday, we highlight a presidential candidate's key campaign staffer.

Natalie Montelongo is a Democratic staffer with experience in national political activism. Montelongo received a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. Mary’s University in 2008, a master’s degree in strategic negotiation from Paris-Sud University in 2010, and a master’s in international relations and diplomacy from the American Graduate School in Paris the same year.

Previous campaign work:

2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign
- political director (April 2016 - November 2016)
- regional organizing director (June 2015 - February 2016)

Other experience:

2018-2019: ACLU, national campaign strategist
2017-2018: Voto Latino, national organizing director
2014-2015: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, presidential appointee
2013-2014: Podesta Group, associate
2011: International Chamber of Commerce, project coordinator

Notable Quote of the Day

“Non-college-educated whites, even after their expected decline, will still represent a much larger share of the total vote in the key Rust Belt battlegrounds than they do nationally. And in many of the Sun Belt battlegrounds, Democrats have struggled to turn out growing minority populations, failed to match their gains elsewhere among college-educated whites, or both. The strong economy might also allow Trump to suppress defections among college-educated white men and possibly make some gains among black and Latino men.

Taken together, these factors could mean, as I wrote on Election Day in 2016, that the Democratic coalition in the Rust Belt again crumbles faster than it coalesces in the Sun Belt, allowing Trump to break through to another win. But the study also pinpoints the inexorable math pressing on Trump’s exclusionary vision for the GOP: His most likely path to a second term will require him to squeeze even bigger advantages out of dwindling groups.”

– Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic

Democrats

The 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center is hosting 10 presidential candidates in South Carolina for its presidential forum focused on criminal justice. Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, John Delaney, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, and Bernie Sanders will participate in the first day on Saturday.
Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, and Elizabeth Warren will participate in the forum’s second day on Sunday.
Michael Bennet and Tom Steyer are speaking at a presidential forum on climate and agriculture in New Hampshire. Bennet will also speak at the New Hampshire Institute “Politics and Eggs” event Friday.
In a statement released Thursday, the Biden campaign indicated it is now open to super PAC spending. "It is not surprising that those who are dedicated to defeating Donald Trump are organizing in every way permitted by current law to bring an end to his disastrous presidency,” deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said.
Politico Magazine published a profile of Steve Bullock called “The Red-State Savior Democrats Don’t Want.”
Gabbard announced Thursday that she will not seek re-election to the U.S. House. “I believe that I can best serve the people of Hawaii and our country as your president and commander-in-chief,” she said in a video statement.
Beto O'Rourke issued an opioid crisis plan that includes ending stigma around substance use disorders, increasing access to treatment, directing proper opioid prescriptions, targeting the supply chain, and facilitating economic stability for recovering individuals.
Tim Ryan announced he was withdrawing from the 2020 presidential race and will run for re-election in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District.to the U.S. House seat from Ohio.
In his marijuana policy released Thursday, Sanders said he would seek to legalize marijuana in his first 100 days of office through executive action. His plan also called for using tax revenue from legal marijuana to fund a $20 billion grant for minority entrepreneurs.
Joe Sestak spoke at Northern Essex Community College in Massachusetts and to members of the New Hampshire Medical Society Thursday.
Marianne Williamson is making college visits Friday through Sunday with stops at Yale, Howard, and George Washington University.
Andrew Yang is holding a rally in San Francisco Sunday.

Republicans

Donald Trump is speaking Friday at a criminal justice forum at Benedict College in South Carolina.
Joe Walsh will speak at a presidential politics conference in Iowa at Dordt University Friday.
During an appearance at the Citizen by CNN conference Thursday, Bill Weld said he would vote for Biden over Trump.

What We’re Reading

Center for American Progress: The Path to 270 in 2020
PRRI: Fractured Nation: Widening Partisan Polarization and Key Issues in 2020 Presidential Elections
Washington Examiner: Time running short for new 2020 Democrats to jump in as filing deadlines approach

Flashback: October 25, 2015

In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Ben Carson discussed his opposition to abortion and Roe v. Wade.